http://outlier.cc/outlier_garments/outlier_pants/
Showing posts with label bicycle commuting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bicycle commuting. Show all posts
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Outlier
Outlier does cycling pants that not only look good but work great in an office environment. And if yr like me, these kinds of things are somewhat important. So make your commute, look good and enjoy!
http://outlier.cc/outlier_garments/outlier_pants/
http://outlier.cc/outlier_garments/outlier_pants/
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Vending Machines Get Cool Products!
"Springtime’s Bike Dispenser allows you to rent a RFID-equipped (Radio Frequency Identifcation) bike from one vending machine, ride it to your destination, drop it off at another vending machine and walk away." Now if that doesn't increase people riding their bikes then I don't know what will! Even cooler about this creation is that it would cost the same as any other form of public transportation. And it even looks cool!
Monday, September 28, 2009
How to Boost Urban Bicycling
The following is an interesting article on urban bicycling. Found from another blog, I just copied and pasted the text, but give a read through, amazing what women affect, as well as the statistics...
“To boost urban bicycling, figure out what women want.”
Getting people out of cars and onto bicycles, a much more sustainable form of transportation, has long vexed environmentally conscious city planners. Although bike lanes painted on streets and automobile-free “greenways” have increased ridership over the past few years, the share of people relying on bikes for transportation is still less than 2 percent, based on various studies. An emerging body of research suggests that a superior strategy to increase pedal pushing could be had by asking the perennial question: What do women want?
In the U.S., men’s cycling trips surpass women’s by at least 2:1. This ratio stands in marked contrast to cycling in European countries, where urban biking is a way of life and draws about as many women as men—sometimes more. In the Netherlands, where 27 percent of all trips are made by bike, 55 percent of all riders are women. In Germany 12 percent of all trips are on bikes, 49 percent of which are made by women.
Women are considered an “indicator species” for bike-friendly cities for several reasons. First, studies across disciplines as disparate as criminology and child rearing have shown that women are more averse to risk than men. In the cycling arena, that risk aversion translates into increased demand for safe bike infrastructure as a prerequisite for riding. Women also do most of the child care and household shopping, which means these bike routes need to be organized around practical urban destinations to make a difference.
“To boost urban bicycling, figure out what women want.”
Getting people out of cars and onto bicycles, a much more sustainable form of transportation, has long vexed environmentally conscious city planners. Although bike lanes painted on streets and automobile-free “greenways” have increased ridership over the past few years, the share of people relying on bikes for transportation is still less than 2 percent, based on various studies. An emerging body of research suggests that a superior strategy to increase pedal pushing could be had by asking the perennial question: What do women want?
In the U.S., men’s cycling trips surpass women’s by at least 2:1. This ratio stands in marked contrast to cycling in European countries, where urban biking is a way of life and draws about as many women as men—sometimes more. In the Netherlands, where 27 percent of all trips are made by bike, 55 percent of all riders are women. In Germany 12 percent of all trips are on bikes, 49 percent of which are made by women.
Women are considered an “indicator species” for bike-friendly cities for several reasons. First, studies across disciplines as disparate as criminology and child rearing have shown that women are more averse to risk than men. In the cycling arena, that risk aversion translates into increased demand for safe bike infrastructure as a prerequisite for riding. Women also do most of the child care and household shopping, which means these bike routes need to be organized around practical urban destinations to make a difference.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Minneapolis' Bike Sharing Program
Here's a few snippets of the article all about Minneapolis' new bike sharing program:
"Minneapolis will launch the first large-scale bicycle sharing system in the country next year, designed to improve public health and increase transportation options.
Nice Ride Minnesota, a Minneapolis-based nonprofit, will place 1,000 bikes in 80 locked self-service kiosks throughout the city, starting in May 2010. One of the kiosks is on display at the Minnesota State Fair.
The non-profit modeled the program on similar initiatives in Paris, Montreal, and Barcelona. Some American cities have experimented with smaller-scale programs, including Washington D.C. and Tucson, Ariz."
"Users will pay $5 a day or $60 a year to access the bikes. Participants who sign up for a year-long account will receive a key card for unlimited access to the kiosks. Daily users can use a credit card directly at a kiosk, and will receive a code to access the bicycles for 24 hours. Nice Ride Minnesota designed the program for short trips, in order to keep the bikes in circulation. Cyclists who use a bike for more than 30 minutes will be charged an additional fee for each half hour. Program officials have not yet determined the fee amount.
As a result, program organizers hope that each bike will be used for as many as 15 trips a day."
"Minneapolis will launch the first large-scale bicycle sharing system in the country next year, designed to improve public health and increase transportation options.
Nice Ride Minnesota, a Minneapolis-based nonprofit, will place 1,000 bikes in 80 locked self-service kiosks throughout the city, starting in May 2010. One of the kiosks is on display at the Minnesota State Fair.
The non-profit modeled the program on similar initiatives in Paris, Montreal, and Barcelona. Some American cities have experimented with smaller-scale programs, including Washington D.C. and Tucson, Ariz."
"Users will pay $5 a day or $60 a year to access the bikes. Participants who sign up for a year-long account will receive a key card for unlimited access to the kiosks. Daily users can use a credit card directly at a kiosk, and will receive a code to access the bicycles for 24 hours. Nice Ride Minnesota designed the program for short trips, in order to keep the bikes in circulation. Cyclists who use a bike for more than 30 minutes will be charged an additional fee for each half hour. Program officials have not yet determined the fee amount.
As a result, program organizers hope that each bike will be used for as many as 15 trips a day."
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Washington D.C. gets a Bikestation
Washington D.C.'s central train station is getting an amazingly attractive sleek glass & metal bike garage for it's bicycle commuters.
"Some people say it's a half-football or a shell," says Mazen Soueidan, the project manager. "It has four sides [with] scalloped shells that overlap."
The Bikestation will hold 130 bikes plus have lockers, and even a small shop for repairs. It will be a more secure place to keep your bike since we all know how sketchy it can be locking up to a parking meter for any amount of time. As well as the added security the hope is to reduce traffic and encourage exercise (since many of Americans haven't had constant exercise since gym class in high school). In California 30 percent of Bikesation users who used to previously commute by car, now commute by mainly just bicycle. To offset its costs the Bikestation will either require an annual membership fee or just a daily usage fee.
"This is a monumental paradigm shift for the typical American," says Don Paine of Washington's KGP Design Studio, lead architect on the design.
Paine says introducing the system to Washington is part of a larger shift toward "dispelling the notion that the car is an essential part of our daily lifestyle."
John Ciccarelli of Bicycle Solutions in San Mateo, Calif., agrees. "What's growing is acceptance that the bicycle is a mode of transportation as well as recreation," he said.
The interior of the Bikestation
Another outside view
Friday, September 4, 2009
Portland Has the Right Idea
This is perhaps the most amazing in practice idea we've seen. With the growing popularity in bicycle commuting Portland has a program to help low-income adults get bicycles to be able to commute to work. It is called "Create-a-Commuter" and gives these adults a commuter bike, equipped with a lock, pump, helmet, lights, tool kit, rain gear, and maps so that they too can get around on bikes (and with gas prices on the rise again, this is brilliant). With the program alos comes a session on commuter safety. Portland has 48,150 riders a day on it's bike route daily. More cities in the U.S.A. need to follow suit and not only help those in need, but help the congestion of traffic, and save the environment for generations to come.
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